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President Peña Nieto Will Pardon Alberto Patishtán

President Enrique Peña Nieto has announced his decision to pardon Alberto
Patishtán on Thursday, once reforms to the Federal Criminal Code approved by
the Legislature enter into force.

Today Wednesday [October 30, 2013] the Code's reforms, passed by the
Senate and ratified yesterday by the Chamber of Deputies, will be published in
the Official Journal of the Federation.

In his Twitter account, the President issued two messages last night to
introduce these measures:

"The day after tomorrow I will publish at @ DOF SEGOB the
Reforms to the Federal Criminal Code regarding pardons approved today by the
Congress.''

The second message reports: "This Thursday, the
reform will enter into force, and I will pardon Alberto Patishtán Gómez." These
messages were sent out after a meeting lasting several hours between President
Peña Nieto and justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

At the same time, the Committee for the Liberation of Patishtán expressed its
confidence that tomorrow Patishtán will be released, and it considered the move
as a breakthrough, although "much remains to be done to repair the
damage."

Neftali Granados, a member of the Committee, stated: "It
should be clear that it is society's voice that has insisted on Patishtán's
innocence. The State erred in sentencing him in violation of his human
rights."

The changes approved to the Federal Criminal Code grant
the President the power to pardon those convicted whose rights have been
violated during judicial proceedings, provided they do not pose a "threat
to public peace and security."

On October 2, several senators proposed amendments to the Code so the
President, on his own initiative, at the request of the chambers of the
Congress or of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, may grant clemency
for any federal offence ... when there are strong indications that the accused
did not have access to adequate defence, when serious violations of due process
are confirmed, or when the evidence is sufficient to prove the innocence of the
person accused.

Alberto Patishtán Gómez was immediately identified as a safe beneficiary of the
measure; he is regarded as a political prisoner by virtue of the numerous
irregularities that took place during his judicial proceedings, and, above all,
because during his thirteen-year imprisonment, his innocence has been well
documented both by his defence team, and by innumerable non-governmental human
rights organizations.

Nevertheless, the various bodies of the Judiciary of the Federation rejected
all evidence and refused to reverse the judge's original decision. The Tzotzil
teacher was sentenced to 60 years in prison for participating in the killing of
seven policemen, an event that took place on June 12, 2000, on a stretch of the
Simojovel-El Bosque highway near the community of Las Limas in Chiapas.

Among the irregularities in the judicial process is the fact of the undue influence
on the Public Prosecutor's investigations exerted by El Bosque's Mayor,
whose son was one of two survivors of the attack in June 2000, and who
apparently identified Alberto Patishtán as a participant in the events.

Also rejected were the testimonies of multiple witnesses that the social
activist was in another place at the time of the crime, the existence of
contradictory elements in the charges against him, and the absence of an
impartial investigation to establish the truth of the allegations.

----

With 422 votes, the Chamber
of Deputies Ratified the Amendments Approved by SenateRoberto Garduño and Enrique
Méndez. 30 oct 13

Yesterday during a full session of the Chamber of Deputies, an amendment to the
Federal Criminal Code was unanimously approved, with 422 votes. The
amendment includes Article 97a so that, at the request of one of the two
chambers of Congress or by his own decision, the President of the Republic can
grant a pardon to a person when there are strong indications of serious
violations of the convicted person's human rights, a measure that, lawmakers
stressed, directly seeks to benefit the teacher Alberto Patishtán Gómez.

During the debate, members of PRD, PAN and Citizens Movement (MC) said that the
amendment was unnecessary because Article 89 of the Constitution grants the
Executive the power to grant pardons to prisoners convicted for federal crimes.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from other factions argued that the reform not only
reflects civil society's concerns with the lack of fairness in the criminal
proceedings against Patishtán Gómez but seeks to correct the lack of fairness
that prevails in the judiciary system.

The PRD Deputy Carlos de Jesús Alejandro said that more than 8,000
indigenous people are in prison because of violations of the right to due
process, just for the lack of an interpreter or translator.

"Of
these 8,000, there are cases that stand out for obvious violations of due
process; unfortunately, it is a routine practice throughout the Mexican
State," he said.

PAN
Deputy Jesús Aquino Calvo argued that the reform represents "the
opportunity to do justice on behalf of a person who has demonstrated his
innocence before all authority."

Ricardo
Monreal, MC coordinator, noted that although it is not the best way to secure
the release of Patishtán Gómez, based on the Executive's constitutional power
to grant clemency, definitely an injustice is being corrected.

The PRD Demands that Patishtán be Declared Innocent

MC Deputies José Francisco Coronato and PRD Deputies Catarino Duarte and
Rosendo Medina expressed their doubts about the reform's legality. Coronato
said he voted in favour of the measure "for humanity, but it is a legal
aberration. What is appropriate is to reclaim Patishtán's innocence."

Earlier,
in the previous discussion of the Justice Committee, PRD Deputy Fernando Zárate
declared that the senators were wrong with the reform, and he stated that
"the glutton is known by how he grabs the taco."

In
the plenary session, PRD Deputy Roberto López argued that in order to benefit
other indigenous prisoners, it is preferable to promote an amnesty law, but the
urgent need now is to secure Patishtán's release, "unjustly imprisoned for
many years, only because justice has not arrived in Chiapas."

Panal
[New Alliance Party] Deputy Fernando Bribiesca Sahagún noted that the
irregularities have been documented, and he asked: "How is it possible to
prove that only one person, the teacher Alberto Patishtán, has been guilty of
the murder of seven heavily armed police with tactical training?"